In what sounds like an introduction of Hubert Humphrey, Ronald Reagan rails against the Republicans back in 1948. It’s amazing to me how similar the problems of yesteryear sound like they could be incorporated into Obama or Hillary McClintons speeches today…if they could quit sniping at each other and address the real issues.

A tip of the space helmet to Snakebite.

They have been turning out in droves. Registrars in Pennsylvania and Oregon have their hands full. The Republicans are flocking to change their party affiliation before the primaries. They don’t have anything to lose but freedom and security so they are abandoning the “Grand Ole Party”. They seem to be waking up.

Maybe it’s because of their discontent with the way the government has been going. Maybe it’s because they see the path we are going down isn’t leading anywhere good and they know their parties candidate is going to be more of the same. Maybe they just feel that Clinton or Obama could do better than John would and they want something better than he can offer. Maybe they are just acting smart for a change.

In Virginia and Missouri Obama won big because of the Repube vote. Texas and Ohio Repube’s gave the Clinton and Obama campaigns a huge boost. Those places have shown that no one is satisfied with the things going on in Washington and are seeking to change it. And change seems to be the common goal.

They have been running a lot of McCain for president ads on teevee here in New Mexico. We are supposedly a “swing state”. It seems that the pundits are right about him. He seems, through this ad, to be comparing America now with America of Viet Nam times. The ad they are running this week has a lot of footage of him after he was brought to some hospital after his captivity in that war. It almost seems like he wants pity for the prison time he served. The message I get from it is that he seeks revenge on his captors so much he can’t tell the difference between the Vietnamese and the Iraqi’s.

His call for occupation of Iraq for 50 years has been overshadowed by his carefree quip about 100.

“Make it 100.” he said when questioned about his support for an extended occupation.

“We’ve been in South Korea … we’ve been in Japan for 60 years,” he continued. “We’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that’s fine with me. I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day.”

That is just disgusting. Americans ARE being injured, harmed or killed everyday in Iraq so there is no reasoning to this statement.

Maybe this one statement of doddering senility has gotten the Repube populace thinking. McSame is driving them away in a way Bush only dreams about. The thinking people see what disaster lies ahead with him running the great ship America. They are more interested in saving our country than some other place. They know we can’t save the world if we can’t save ourselves. They know the way things are going we are actually destroying ourselves. They want change.

In this race the Republicans can’t count on the conservative evangelical vote. This isn’t a race based on abortion or whatever one issue subject they choose to vote on. This race affects them the same way it does Democrats and “liberals”. Their kids are dying in Iraq the same way those on the left’s kids are. They are tired of being lied to by those they trusted 4 and 8 years ago. Their homes have also been foreclosed on. Their jobs have been shipped out of the country too.  Their phones and internet are at risk of being invaded just like the liberals. Their rights are being trampled along with everyone else’s. Only the hardcore are waiting for Bush and McCain to speed up their “rapture” and the end of the world.

I have become an Obama supporter over the last few weeks. I think Clinton brought some good things to the table but she also brought her bucket of mud and has been slinging it much to my dismay. Bill Richardson has endorsed Barack so there is my big turning point. Richardson is the experience and knowlege Obama needs to bring on board so thats my humble endorsement.

I won’t make this page a campaign for any candidate until after the Democratic National Convention and then I will only do what I can to defeat the Republicans and their drive to bring us back to the stone age. Until then I have to depend on the conservatives who are running frantically away from their own party. For whatever reason they are running.

The members of the Grateful Dead also endorsed him by playing a benefit for him so Thats an added bonus as far as I’m concerned.

I haven’t paid much attention to the news over the weekend. Just babbling about Huckabee dividing the nation and black people pushing for Obama. The race card has been played hard lately but Clinton has gotten hurt from whoever is voting for Barack. Bad enough that she felt the need to change campaign managers in the middle of the stream. Aging bald dudes seem to be working for the change Obama promises by the looks of things at the Rotus Ranch.

Clark, the head rancher over there also has a nice blog with music reviews. Go check it out at Clarks Picks.

Rotus has a somewhat different take on some issues and I try to read his stuff every day. I think you should too.

With a reported 52% of the votes over McCains 21% in the caucuses in Main this weekend It seems the Republican voters are flip flopping from state to state. One bunch says that McCain would be better. Then Romney says some soothing crap and the next state overwhelmingly votes for him. Ron Paul did almost as well as John in Maine with 19%of the vote going his way. Even Thompson, who dropped out of the race last month, brought in 4% of the votes.

With Super Tuesday coming tomorrow analysts are busy making predictions. According to Time Magazine Saturday, Fred Thompson is expected to do well in Tennesse.

On the Democratic side Hillary Clinton is expected to do well in the southern states as well.  After all, the rednecks there see no value in a black man. How can an inferior being lead our country? At Denny’s the other morning a traveler from Alabama told me he would rather see a woman in there than a Negro. After living in the southland for so many years I know the “liberal” voters have those feelings and I think we will see that trend among the white voters there.

New Mexico, like Idaho and Kansas will hold Democrat only caucuses tomorrow.  Racism will be a big factor here as well I think. The Hispanic population in New Mexico is pretty conservative and on a large scale believe the idea of a black president is not as appealing as a woman. Besides if her husband watches the Super Bowl with our Hispanic governor I guess she can’t be all that bad. I think the race card will be a major factor in all of the states tomorrow.

With Republicans like Susan Eisenhower, Dwight’s granddaughter,  and (reportedly Republican) Bob Wier of the Grateful Dead joining the voice for Obama, conservative Democrats may actually be influenced. The stoner crowd may even get out to vote because the rest of the band endorses Barack. Maybe the racists will be outnumbered by those who choose to vote by other outside influences like endorsements.

I am not sure who I would vote for tomorrow if I could. (I’m not a registered Dem.)  I have very mixed feelings about both Hillary and Obama. With Richardson and Kucinich out I don’t have a favorite. They both have the same strong feelings about the war in Iraq. I have seen nothing but continuing support of the occupation (at least for the next 4 years) from both of the Democratic frontrunners.

This is a single issue race for me for the most part. My draft age son doesn’t believe in this war and I feel that if the conflict continues and escalates the draft is imminent. I don’t want my son to be among those who are fighting if he doesn’t believe in the cause. I don’t want anyones child to be forced into service for such flawed reasons as the ones that led us into this war and occupation. Or the war McCain wants to start with Iran.

If your state is holding Super Tuesday elections tomorrow please get out and vote. Your voice can make a difference this time.

You may even see a super hero at the polls.

Barely Political aired this report about the 2008 elections.

Special thanx to MAHAKALA

While they rushed ballots to the polling places that were running out. While every news channel was predicting a double digit lead for Obama over everyone. While the pundits babbled insipidly about who would win if Bill Clinton were running. While everyone in the media were predicting a neck and neck between McCain and Romney, I slept.

Crying myself into a nap I knew how my life is going to be spent the next few months. Watching the chances of a positive campaign crumble while the sniping and backstabbing grows. Through the rain of mudballs being hurled by the candidates, and some of their spouses, we will have the problem of trying to see which one of them will really bring change and who would lead us down the road to hell we are speeding down so quickly already. Although the mud doesn’t seem to be sticking yet I am sure it will get thicker and nastier as the year runs on.

Hillary’s slim victory over Obama today in New Hampshire is being touted as a major victory. On the Democratic side both Edwards and Richardson have vowed to continue fighting. McCain and Romney have clinched the top 2 while Huckabee, the strong leader in Iowa was pushed down to the Ron Paul level. I was really refreshed to wake and see how lousy the numbers were for 9/11 Gulianni and Thompson. Paul fanatics will actually cause more damage to his cause than the good their money did so I’m not worrying much about his ultra right wing libertarian ass winning anything any more. Dodds poor showing will probably result in him withdrawing from the race along with the other candidates who polled less than 2% in todays primary.

My states governor has decided to concentrate on the western states where he is better known. While others are campaigning in S. Carolina Richardson will be wooing Nevadans and Californians. He still has strong support here in New Mexico because the people have benefitted  from his leadership. There are those he needs to court still but I think he will do better out west than he has in Iowa or N.H.. I’m really excited to see how people all over the nation whose states are being invaded by the big news agencies and herds of supporters will react to this circus tour.

It was good to see that no one got the “coronation” the media had been trying to put on Barack all week. I really think that those other Demo candidates need to get a lot more airtime in before the people are forced to go with the top runner. There are more choices than Obama and Clinton so they need to be heard.

I’m glad to see New Hampshire over with. I’m also glad it wasn’t the decider and we still have until November to choose who will be our next president.

If they actually let the people decide this time.

 With so many people disgusted with politics as usual everyone is grasping at straws to see radical change this November. Many conservatives ar reaching out to Ron Paul as a savior. No matter how much change he promises a quick look at his record will show that he’s just more of the same. I found this article from  Political Wire and thought it important to pass it along.

Tip o’ the hat to  radicalfanitical

Google Ron Paul?
December 17, 2007, 4:12 pm
Filed under: 2008 Election, Conservatives, Economics, Environment, Faith, Government, House, Immigration, International, Race, Rights | Tags: 2008, Abortion, Campaigns, Candidates, Corporate Power, Elections, Environment, Immigration, Reactionaries, Reproductive Choice, Republicans, Ron Paul, The Oil Industry, United Nation
Recently, Ron Paul broke the one-day fundraising record for a Republican Presidential candidate, raking in approximately $5.2 million dollars. Political Wire has more:

“Most of the donations were made over the Internet in what the supporters called a “money bomb” timed to coincide with the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The last fund-raising blitz, which took in 40,000 donations, was timed to coincide with Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates a British mercenary who tried unsuccessfully to kill King James I on Nov. 5, 1605.” The record take means Paul will likely lead his rivals for money raised during the fourth quarter.

Paul’s supporters will tell you to “Google Ron Paul;” in light of his recent fundriaising success, let’s give that a shot and see what he actually stands for–Orcinus has the definitive account, and it’s nothing less than appalling:

Ron Paul wants to deny women control of their own reproductive systems–despite calling himself a libertarian, he doesn’t seem to mind government intrusion when it comes to abortion. (H.R.1095 H.R.777 H.R.1548 H.AMDT.1003 (A024) H.AMDT.380 (A022) H.AMDT.312 (A011) H.R.4984). Not only that, but Paul wants to eliminate the legal distinction between a zygote and a person (H.R.2597 H.R.1094 H.R.776 H.R.392).
Paul wants to prevent the federal courts–or even federal precedent–for being used by those who have been discriminated against due to religious beliefs or sexual orientation. His bills would also prevent cross-state recognition of gay marriage (H.R.300 H.R.4379 H.R.5739 H.R.3893 H.R.1547 H.R.4922 H.R.5078). He also wants to limit the court system’s ability to hear abortion cases (H.R.1545 H.R.1546 H.R.2875 H.R.3400 H.R.3691 H.R.15169).
Despite claiming to be a libertarian, Paul opposes allowing people to express their freedom of speech by burning the American flag (H.J.RES.80 H.J.RES.82).
Ron Paul wants to repeal workplace safety and health legislation, including the Occupational Health and Safety Act (H.R.2310 H.R.13264). And so much for giving power to the people–he wants to make it easier to decertify labor unions (H.R.694). In addition, Paul also opposes the minimum wage (H.R.2962) and wants to destroy Social Security (H.R.2030 H.R.4604).
Paul opposes pro-democracy voting reforms, even after the disastrous 2000 election (H.CON.RES.48 H.CON.RES.443). He also opposes the motor voter laws, which make it easier for people–particularly poorer people–to register to vote (H.R.2139).
Ron Paul wants to gut anti-trust and anti-monopoly legislation (H.R.1247 H.R.1789) and eliminate corporate oversight (H.R.1204). For someone who seems to support giving power to the people, the only people he wants to help are the already-powerful.
Paul wants to repeal anti-discimination laws (H.R.3863 H.R.5842 H.R.4982), as well as eliminating birthright citizenship (H.J.RES.46 H.J.RES.42), which is in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Ron Paul wants to repeal or severely weaken environmental protection legislation (H.J.RES.104 H.R.3735 H.R.4423 H.R.2504 H.R.7079 H.R.724), as well as promoting offshore oil drilling, building more oil refineries and mining for coal on federal land (H.R.2415 H.R.4004 H.R.393 H.R.4639 H.R.5293 H.R.6936).
Paul, who portrays himself as pro-peace, opposes dismantling ICBM silos in the United States (H.R.1665 H.R.3769) and supports keeping the U.S. out of the International Criminal Court (H.R.1154 H.AMDT.480 (A010) H.R.4169 H.CON.RES.23 H.RES.416). He has also tried to limit the impact of international law on the United States (H.J.RES.1028 H.J.RES.492 H.CON.RES.49 H.R.4118 H.R.1658), going as far as trying to withdraw America from the U.N. (H.R.1146 H.R.1146 H.AMDT.285 (A038) H.R.1146 H.AMDT.190 (A024) H.AMDT.191 (A025) H.R.1146 H.AMDT.306 (A006) H.R.1146 H.AMDT.138 (A010) H.R.1146 H.R.3890 H.R.3891 H.R.6358 H.R.14788). In addition, Paul supports withdrawing the U.S. from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (H.J.RES.566) and wants to re-establish U.S. ’sovereignty’ over the Panama Canal (H.CON.RES.231 H.RES.1410 H.R.2522).
Paul wants to weaken our education system by using federal power to interfere with state efforts to improve standards for teachers (H.R.966 H.R.1706 H.R.4653).
Once again pandering to the powerful, Paul wants to reduce the tax burden of the wealthiest Americans, including those who inherited their fortunes. In addition, he wants to disproportionately burden the poor and working clas by imposing a flat tax (H.J.RES.23 H.J.RES.14 H.J.RES.15 H.J.RES.45 H.J.RES.81 H.J.RES.116 H.R.5484 H.R.2137 H.R.1664 H.J.RES.23 H.R.6352 H.R.4569 H.R.15619). Paul also wants to force us to pay our income tax every month, eliminating withholding (H.R.1364 H.R.4855).
Paul also wants to abandon the dollar, creating 50 state currencies instead (H.R.2779 H.R.3931).